Winners Of 10th District Congressional Art Competition Revealed

WAUKEGAN, IL — U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider announced the 10th District's winners of the annual Congressional Art Competition Tuesday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, local high school submitted their artwork remotely for the second consecutive year. And for the second year in a row, Waukegan High School students were awarded the top two spots.

First place winners have their art displayed in the U.S. Capitol for the next year alongside winning artwork from every district. The event was judged anonymously by Amy Amdur, executive director of arts festival production company Amdur Productions and Soojin Lee, art gallery director of the Korean Cultural Center of Chicago.

Kate Salinas, a Waukegan senior, was selected as the best in show out of 37 submissions from a dozen north suburban high schools with a piece of digital artwork titled, "Together."

"Last summer where there was a rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, I saw not only black people but people from different backgrounds come together to fight about this human rights issue," Salinas said in an artist's statement.

"It wasn’t even only coming together during protest, [it was] coming together online. I’ve never seen people spread information as quickly and donate so much money to the to a singular cause. This unity I saw in the country was incredibly inspiring and it’s what inspired this piece.”

The second place winner in the 2021 competition, Waukegan High School senior Kimberly Lagunas, will have her digital work, "Caged In" displayed in Schneider's Lincolnshire district office.

And the colored pencil and gel pen piece, "Allyship," by third place winner Ava McQuain, a senior at Mundelein High School, will be hung on the wall in Schneider's Washington D.C. office.

“Art has always had the power to excite, inspire and lift up both those who create it and those who experience the create. That’s why for this year’s art competition, I asked district artists to deliver on the theme ‘Unity’—an idea that seems to be much needed at this moment. Each student delivered incredibly talented and thoughtful art, and I wish that we had the space to hang them all in the Capitol," Schneider said, congratulating the winners.

"I hope that their work will serve to inspire and guide the nation and the Tenth district as it already has inspired me.”

Last year, Janette Martinez-Tolentino of Waukegan High School earned first place with her work, "Stronger Together."

Angie Ordonez, also of Waukegan, took home second place honors for her work, "Great Ideas for a Great Nation" and Lauren Fink of Warren Township High School placed third with her piece, "Share the Sweet Light."

Schneider's office plans to host an outdoor ceremony to congratulate 2021 winners of the competition later this month.

Related:
Lake Forest High School Student Wins 2017 Congressional Art Competition
Waukegan High School Student Wins 2018 Congressional Art Competition
Glenbrook North Student Wins 2019 Congressional Art Competition
Waukegan High School Student Wins 2020 Congressional Art Competition
All Student Submissions To 2021 Congressional Art Competition For 10th District